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A big THANKS to everyone who participated in the second Talking Animals Festival as a vendor, a tabler, a food vendor, a sponsor (particularly Petco & tbt*/The St. Petersburg Times), a musician, a speaker, etc.–or, of course, attendee. An equal size thanks to the cast of thousands–only mild exaggeration!–who worked tirelessly to make the Festival such a fun, successful day for all concerned.

In the wake of the success of the inaugural Talking Animals Festival–a WMNF event–we are gearing up to produce the second Talking Animals Festival, which will again include a multiple-hour, multiple-act concert of bands performing animal songs…tables where animal groups & other non-profits can provide outreach, and vendors or artists can sell pet products or animal-oriented items, services & artwork…delicious vegetarian & vegan food…pet adoption…raffle & silent auction…speakers, contests, exhibitions & more!

If you have a pet business, sell animal-oriented products or services, are an artist–or otherwise would like to be a vendor at the Talking Animals Festival–please download this application form, complete and submit to WMNF.

Whichever category you’re in, you’ll see that the fees have not been increased from those of the first Festival–provided you park in the designated parking lot. We had such a big turnout for our debut Talking Animals Festival that between Festival attendance & Zoo attendance, there were a few points in the day when we experienced a real parking crunch, and newly arriving Festival attendees couldn’t find parking spaces.

A huge turnout for a first-time event is the proverbial good problem to have, but in consultation with the City, we’ve taken a few steps to mitigate the parking problem for the 2nd Festival, and one of those steps is offering our vendors, artists, tablers & others a reduced fee (i.e., the same as last year’s) if they park off site, in our designated parking lot, freeing up more parking space at or near Lowry Park. Thank you.

To find out more about the adoption component, sponsorship possibilities, volunteer opportunities, or other aspects of the Festival–including if you’re interested in becoming a food vendor–please e-mail us at TalkingAnimals@wmnf.org. Thanks.